Cold and snow wave grips the USA, nearly 10,000 cold and snow records set in the last six weeks

Paging Seth Borenstein! 9787 new cold and snow records since March 13th

If this were a month of a heatwave across thus USA, like last July, you can bet it would be MSM headlines all over the place and breathless stories from AP’s Seth Borenstein and pronouncements from the Mannian climate cartel about how all this is connected to global warming, er climate change, er climate disruption.

Iceagenow is (at least I hope it is) a wonderful tongue in cheek parody of alarmism. Up on a par with Minnesotans for Global Warming. Congratulations to Felix for having kept it up and kept it fresh for so long.
His most wonderful catastrophist fantasy was something like: what happened to the mammoths is going to happen to us. The idea was that it would suddenly start to snow one day, not a few inches or a few feet but many meters. It would just snow and keep on snowing and in a few days we would all be buried under 100s of meters of snow.
Like the mammoths!

I find looking at these two images a bit weird. It looks as though it is a commonplace that, for example, a record low and a high minimum temp have occurred adjacent to each other.
This has no doubt been covered at WUWT before, but is this in accordance with reality if supposedly happening in many instances, some of which, surely, cannot vary topographically, or in other ways, sufficiently to make sense of this?
Am I misreading this, or does this indicate potential problems in sites/measurements that make the mind boggle?

From the Scotsman newspaper:
TWO German tourists who arrived in Scotland for a holiday at the end of February have finally left after being stranded in a remote glen by a snow storm for five weeks.
For the past five weeks Mr Suft and Ms Kumschier have stayed at a bed and breakfast in the village, doing odd jobs to pay for their accommodation, as they waited for the road to be cleared.
Last week Perth and Kinross council sent a JCB to dig a channel through the snow and drag the camper van out of the snow drift.http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/top-stories/german-tourists-stranded-in-highlands-for-five-weeks-1-2906075

given the time of year, could the record ‘highs’ be more representative of increased UHI? (certainly for some of the poor sited urban stations) – I am presuming that the record ‘lows’ are acceptable, as to my knowledge folk don’t cool the outside much with human activity! – mind you, if we imagined a really rough weather day, with nobody travelling in private cars/buses,etc due to blocked roads, etc – on those days any UHI contribution from say, traffic, would be lower and could contribute to the recorded ‘lows’?

As with March and April 2012, so far in March and April 2013 no new ‘all time’ highest maximum or lowest minimum temperature records have been broken in the lower 48 states; though one all time lowest minimum was broken in Hawaii. That’s according to NOAA’s ‘Records look-up’ page: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/records/all-time/maxt/2012/04/00?sts%5B%5D=US#records_look_up
From the same source, in March and April this year (so far) 40 ‘monthly’ lowest minimum temperature records have been broken, in contrast to 11 monthly highest maximum temperature records broken in the same period. That’s a ratio of about 4/1 lowest/highest monthly records broken in March and April 2013.
In March and April 2012 a total of 511 monthly highest maximum temperatures were broken, against 18 monthly lowest minimum temperatures in the same period. That gives a ratio of about 28/1 highest/lowest monthly records broken in March and April 2012.
The total number of monthly temperature records broken during March and April 2012 is in the order of 7 times higher than the number of monthly temperature records so far broken in March and April 2013. Perhaps this is what marked the March and April 2013 events as more noteworthy to the mainstream media outlets?

It is not just the USA, all of the higher latitudes of N. Hemisphere are affected.
Is this a trend direction change?
The N.H’s composite data set is not long enough to extrapolate to future, however there is a good correlation between the CET record and the N.H’s temperature records .
The 350 year long CET record allows for a sensible extrapolation of the basic components comprising natural trend, as I demonstrate here:http://www.vukcevic.talktalk.net/CET-NV.htm
Time will tell, but it appears that the ‘global warming’ peak, at least in the higher latitudes of the N. Hemisphere is over.

jc highlights an important point when he asks why so many high and low records in close proximity (not withstanding that this is over a month). Temperatures are rock solid when we are talking of beating records by tiny fractions of a degree (either way).

Here in Minnesota, in Duluth, this April is not just the snowiest April they’ve ever had, but has now become the snowiest month period in the entire record there. If you are at all familiar with the weather in Duluth, you will realize that is, if not unprecedented, at least fairly exceptional. There is still a possibility of more snow today and tomorrow, before some warmth finally moves in for the weekend.
Where I live is several hundred miles south of Duluth, but we have had exactly two days where the daily high was above the historical average since 27 Feb. One in March was one degree above average and one day in early April was plus 4 above avg. An additional three days matched the avg. Though not a majority, a strong plurality of the rest of the days in between had highs in the 15-20 degrees below avg. range

vukcevic says:
April 24, 2013 at 1:46 am
“…
Time will tell, but it appears that the ‘global warming’ peak, at least in the higher latitudes of the N. Hemisphere is over.”
__________
So What- it’s still all your fault and your taxes are going up and your energy usage is going down!

Never forget what they told us was about Spring arriving earlier and earlier.
Exhibit 1

Abstract
…………In a warmer world, less winter precipitation falls as snow and the melting of winter snow occurs earlier in spring. Even without any changes in precipitation intensity, both of these effects lead to a shift in peak river runoff to winter and early spring, away from summer and autumn when demand is highest……Nature – T. P. Barnett et. al. – 17 November 2005

“From the Scotsman newspaper:
TWO German tourists who arrived in Scotland for a holiday at the end of February have finally left after being stranded in a remote glen by a snow storm for five weeks.”
WHAT?! Scotland gets about two weeks of camper van weather per year and it does not happen in the middle of winter.
Not even the Met Office predicted a barbecue winter.
Mind you some Germans enjoy a challenge like that. There’s a motorbike rally called the Elephant Rally which is held in the middle in the middle of the continent on the Czech-German border.

I live on a lake… since this house was built in 1995 we’ve been keeping track of freeze and thaw dates. This year we are already 2 weeks past the majority of thaws, and the ice is still thick and solid. The latest it’s ever been was May 3. Should be interesting to see when we thaw.

jc says:
April 23, 2013 at 11:58 pm
I find looking at these two images a bit weird. It looks as though it is a commonplace that, for example, a record low and a high minimum temp have occurred adjacent to each other.
Don’t forget that these records were set over a number of weeks, so it shouldn’t be unexpected.
I thought that just a little while ago, the fact that max temp records outnumbered min temp records by 3:1 was incontrovertible proof of global warming?

“There is no winter any more despite a cold snap before Christmas. It is nothing like years ago when I was younger. There is a real problem with spring because so much is flowering so early year to year. It’s hard to plan attractions as the marketing has to be planned. You do that relying on things happening at certain times.”Daily Express [UK] – Dr Nigel Taylor, Curator of Kew Gardens, 8 Feb 2008

Just this April we had:

5 April 2013
First week of April and it’s STILL SNOWING! London and South East hit by more white stuff as the Great Spring Freeze keeps its grip on BritainDaily Mail –

Brrrrr! It’s now April 24, and we have 41 degrees down here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, with a wind chill that makes it feel like it is 35 degrees. This is not my idea of spring, especially this close to May in Texas. Global warming is MUCH better than global cooling. Lol!

26 August 2006Spring is arriving earlier each year as a result of climate change, the first “conclusive proof” that global warming is altering the timing of the seasons, scientists announced yesterday……
“Not only do we clearly demonstrate change in the timing of seasons, but that change is much stronger in countries that have experienced more warming,” said Tim Sparks, an environmental scientist on the study at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at Monks Wood near Huntingdon……
“One of the biggest problems is that species don’t adapt to warming at the same rate. So if you have a bird that feeds on an insect that relies on a certain plant for food, and any one of those responds to warming differently to the others, the whole system can break down,” he said.Guardian

And recently we had:

10 April 2013Rare birds killed off after migration north sees them face freezing temperatures back in UK
Rare birds have fallen victim to Britain’s prolonged cold weather with the bodies of several breeds found dead across the country.Independent

And 5 days before the start of Spring:

15 March 2013Migrating birds leave frozen Germany
Huge flocks of migratory birds, such as cranes, lapwings and golden plovers, have been returning to Germany over the last couple of weeks after spending the winter in warmer climes. Many of them have now turned around and left thanks to the cold weather.
A lack of food was driving the birds out of the country, Matthias Werner from the national ornithological institute said on Thursday. Hundreds of them made a brief stop-over in northern Hesse, he added.

I have to say that I am becoming extremely impressed by what CO2 can achieve, if this global warming becomes any colder it will become a real bitch. One can only wonder why El Nino has been so shy of late, could it possibly be connected to the sun being on holidays.
Perhaps the experts at NASA could inform us as to the suns normal roster and the length of vacation to be expected, this would give us an idea as to how much oil, gas and coal futures to invest in.

Last year my daylilies started blooming on April 2. This year the first bloom was yesterday, April 23, a full three weeks later. Here in central Virginia the cold has not been as extreme as in Duluth (we lived in Superior WI for three years in the 1970s), but March was just cold, and except for a warm week April has been also. Most days have been at least somewhat colder than average for the time of year. Today we are predicted to feel 80 degrees; I’ll wait to see.

Hi Anthony,left this comment because I didn,t know how to bring this to your attention.Just watched BBC Hardtalk,24/04/13 .You might find it interesting environmentalist author put on the rack by the BBC interviewer.Gotta be a first,we need more of same.Maybe you can find the link somewhere to put it up here.

“From the Scotsman newspaper:
TWO German tourists who arrived in Scotland for a holiday at the end of February have finally left after being stranded in a remote glen by a snow storm for five weeks.”
I was in Scotland back in 1993, on the first leg of a European trip. It was mid May so I didn’t pack a jacket. That was a mistake. I’d not quite realized how far north Scotland is and that therefore they have only two seasons: winter and July. It’s a lovely country but why anyone would want to go there in February escapes me.

Last year I stopped using my heating during the day around the first week of April. This year, today is the first day I’ve not had it on at all. I’m around 70 miles N of London.
Regarding the two maps: surely when it’s particularly cold outside there will be more heating on for longer in urban areas in both homes and businesses, thus increasing overall heat in urban heat islands.

This is all perfectly in line with the alarmist fantasy as chronicled in the most scientifically sound (cough) prophetic documentary (cough) “The Day After Tomorrow” where global warming induces an ice age and the evil Republican politician that was so worried about little things like the economy has to admit the super brave and heroic alarmist paleoclimatologist was right all along to be more worried about trace gases in the atmosphere disrupting the climate.
/sarc

Here in Minnesota, in Duluth, this April is not just the snowiest April they’ve ever had, but has now become the snowiest month period in the entire record there. If you are at all familiar with the weather in Duluth, you will realize that is, if not unprecedented, at least fairly exceptional.

I’d go with “unprecedented in the written records.” Of course, that would make it exceptional too. 🙂

It is April 24th. By now we usually have hummingbirds return to western Colorado for the summer. It has been below freezing every morning, a bit warmer a dawn yesterday, but with snow. It has been in the teens in the past week and is currently about 20°F. It will be at least a couple more weeks before we have any flowers for the hummers to feed upon, assuming the buds survive this late freeze.

Perhaps the pendulum is swinging back. In the Pacific Northwest (PNW) we have been in a cooler and wetter weather pattern since 2008. This year is different. Here in the Willamette Valley we are at least 6″ behind on precipitation (we get most of our precip from October to May), and flowering of Douglas-fir is a solid 10 days earlier than in 2012. Today will top out at 74.

More measurements/observations will increase the probability of measuring ‘a record’, as will greater reported-precision.
The individual is also free to choose what they consider to be ‘a record’ worth mentioning. Fans of Baseball and Cricket know this, but many climate-change observers in the MSM are still struggling.

Michael Hart says…More measurements/observations will increase the probability of measuring ‘a record’, as will greater reported-precision.”
But if you have kept up with Anthony’s work on weather stations, there are fewer stations being systematically adjusted upward. It must really be cold to overwhelm The Adjusters. (Almost sounds like something from a Monty Python adventure.)

Many readers will recall that warmists have of late been suggesting that the reduced Arctic Ice coverage has played a role in Northern Europe (particularly the UK) experiencing colder than usual winters and snowier than usual winters these past few years. Whilst globally warming may have stalled, CET suggests that winter temperatures have fallen by about 1.5degC this century
One of the regular WUWT commentators (I think it is Steven Mosher) often puts forward that reduced Arctic ice cover is the explanation as to why more snow is to be expected In Northern Europe whereas previously warmists (for example Dr Vinerhttp://www.independent.co.uk/environment/snowfalls-are-now-just-a-thing-of-the-past-724017.html
) were suggesting that winters would become milder and children would not know what snow is.
The UK Met Office has been looking into this and now considers that there is insufficient evidence to suggest that reducedArctic ice coverage was responsible for the UK’s cold and snowy winter this year. In fact it appears that the Met Office do not consider reduced Arctic ice coverage to be responsible.See http://www.thegwpf.org/met-office-admits-arctic-sea-ice-cold-winter/

Well brace your selves for the flood of extreme weather claims due over the next two weeks.
As the moon crossed the equator headed South on the 22nd, the secondary tidal bulge in the atmosphere is rebuilding up off of the equator and will arrive with warm moist air to power the main spring out break of tornadoes, as the Moon is maximum culmination South on the 28th and we are in peak synod conjunction with Saturn, both will effectively combine to move more than usual amounts of warmth and moisture into the now frozen snow clogged streams.
The warm rain and rapid snow melting on frozen ground will make the news with the floods at the same time the tornadoes peak from the 27th until around May 5th when the moon crosses the equator headed North to bring in the rest of the spring thaw and more rains.
Be ready for the extreme meme to pop up in the media again and blame it on CO2 what done it!

“Here in Minnesota, in Duluth, this April is not just the snowiest April they’ve ever had, but has now become the snowiest month period in the entire record there.”
The St. Paul paper did carry an article about that. Over 50″ for April (record) close to 90″ since Feb 1 (record) 22″ on the ground (record for this late in the year) 12x” for the season (3rd and climbing)
In the Twin Cities, normal is now 62. The warmest we’ve been is 55. Only 3 days in April even topped 50.

Box of Rocks says:
April 24, 2013 at 6:34 am
…The last freeze date in North Central Kansas is May 5th.
No it’s not! The Average Last Spring Freeze (28F or Lower) for Salina Kansas is: April 1st.http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ict/?n=freeze

Robert says @ 1:48
“Climate Mammoths”, then provides a link to the film by Simon Lamb called “Thin Ice”.
Having watched the short trailer where it quotes “Climate Scientists are under attack” (shown against a backdrop of good skeptical views from stars such as his lordship (Christopher Monkton), and also that part of Simon Lamb’s production team includes the UEA’s Phil Jones, I have arrived at this conclusion:
Well of course they’re under attack. They started it.
Hat tip to Fawlty Towers:
GERMAN: “Will you stop talking about the war”
BASIL: “Me? – well you started it”
GERMAN: “We did NOT start it”
BASIL: “Yes you did. You invaded Poland”

These cold records are not 1-2 degrees below the old record, but 6-15 degrees below the old record – and right at the start of growing season.
Amarillo was 21 degrees this morning and the old record was 30 degrees.
A lot of people had to scramble to drain irrigation systems.
This cold is pushing back corn planting all across the country as the soil is still very cold.
It also is hurting the winter wheat yield as many fields are in the flower to dough stage and the kernels or flowers are frozen and are then killed. The cold is also affecting livestock as they need energy to keep warm rather than to grow.

Here in Colorado, midway between Boulder and Denver, it has been a remarkable month. 35.5 inches of snowfall (22.3″ in a single storm), a low temperature of 4F on 4/10 and 9F on 4/18. For Denver, it will be one of the top 10 coldest Aprils on record.

This is the coldest spring in Austin Texas since I’ve been here (9 years). Today is in the 40’s. My garden doesn’t know what to do- since I planted my warm-season plants in mid-march like we’re supposed to!

Greg says:
April 24, 2013 at 2:32 am
Watch out if the weather carries on in the US, you may have an influx of german tourists this year. 😉
###
Well, I don’t know about that, but Germans are the only people who tour Phoenix Arizona … in the summer!

@jc
One reason that hot and cold records can occur adjacent to each other is that they’re connected. I live in Utah, and in the spring (as well as in the winter, but it’s more pronounced in spring) cold weather systems, like the one that brought record cold and snow last week, are always proceeded by abnormally hot temperatures, because the approach of the low pressure system causes strong south winds. So it’s common (in Utah, at least) to have record-breaking heat one day, and record-breaking cold the very next day. It all depends on the strength, timing and positions of the storms. In other words, plain simple weather can cause high temperature swings of 30-35 degrees F in a single 24 hour period.

Jimbo says:
April 24, 2013 at 2:53 am
“Exhibit 3
26 August 2006
Spring is arriving earlier each year as a result of climate change, the first “conclusive proof” that global warming is altering the timing of the seasons, scientists announced yesterday……”
I think each of these doomsters should be contacted and asked what their views are these days. Temperatures are probably ~-5 to -10C or so below their balmy beliefs. James Lovelock the inventor of “Gaia” and a former believer in catastrophic warming – including a book on it- recanted:http://www.climatedepot.com/2012/04/23/alert-gaia-scientist-james-lovelock-reverses-himself-i-was-alarmist-about-climate-change-so-was-gore-the-problem-is-we-dont-know-what-the-climate-is-doing-we-thought-we-knew-20-years-ago/
Do the others have the fortitude and integrity to do the same? I’d like to see their answers. Why not do a survey asking what the main proponents think now. They’ve done surveys of sceptics (well I guess Lewandowski did a virtual survey or some such).
Note in Sea Ice section of WUWT that parts of the arctic have recently gotten colder (NOAA ESRL Arctic temperatures – the link doesn’t work) most of Greenland and central Canadian Arctic are below -30C.

Two good things will come out of this record cold and snow this spring. It should basically wipe out the mountain pine beetle and keep forest fire hazard low in Alberta saving the tax payer a huge chunk of cash that we are so desperate for now. What will happen is the next warm spell will bring out alarmist media reports feed by the forestry bureaucrats crying for public money to maintain the problem at all costs. Secret — there is no problem.

Question: Are the Cryosphere Arctic Sea Ice maps supposed to accurately depict NH snow cover? They have not shown any snow cover of the British Isles this spring, though I keep hearing stories about massive snows.
Just wondering.
Ben

If we wan’t to talk about (short term climate change) long term weather and man made contribution – go watch the PBS series on the dust bowl of the 1930’s with dust storms that carried dust from the Texas Panhandle to cover the whole eastern seaboard of the US and several hundred miles out to sea. It would not have been as bad if farming practices had been different perhaps, but from 1930 to 1935 or so, everyone from Texas to Alberta Canada was affected by lack of rain and unbelievable wind storms. SInce most people were still farming with horses, I doubt it was caused by CO2. If you watch that documentary, you will get a real appreciation for the power of nature. My parents and grandparents lived through that time. What we have now doesn’t even appear to be a blip in comparison but maybe there are other factors.

Dear CO2,
Some “control knob” you’ve turned out to be. You’re acting like a weenie, second-rate green house gas and if you don’t start pulling your weight, you will be replaced by something more insidious.
Warmest regards,
dz

Problem with “climate craziness” or “extreme weather”, it is now admitted that there has been no significante warming for several decades (covered by finding invented warming convenienttly placed where no one can feel it under the ocean). “Extreme weather” can only be caused by “global warming” of the atmosphere. Therefore, we can have hidden heat under the ocean, OR we can have “extreme weather”, we cannot have both.
And that means that the several decades of claims of effects “right now” of “global warming” cannot have been true. Soooo…we are listineing to anything they say…why?

Not to worry, Seth will get his chance at “redemption” as the sun heats the northern hemisphere, I believe the official line will be, “Its warming at an unprecedented rate, just last month it was 16 F below the average, now its at normal temperatures for this season, if this rate of warming continues,we will all fry by next tuesday.”
Borestein is probably a bot.

Larry in Texas says:
April 24, 2013 at 2:52 am
Brrrrr! It’s now April 24, and we have 41 degrees down here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, with a wind chill that makes it feel like it is 35 degrees. This is not my idea of spring, especially this close to May in Texas. Global warming is MUCH better than global cooling. Lol!
***********************************************
Seconded. Getting pretty tired of this stuff (so are my plants). At this rate I’m concerned that we won’t have much of a summer… and that’s bad news in the electricity business.

Now, it’s not unusual for it to snow here in the Denver area in the late spring, even into June, but after a very dry winter, we’ve had at least a foot of snow every week since the beginning of March. Every. Week. We’re thawing again today but there is more snow in the forecast for next Thursday. We’ve not only been very snowy but it’s also been very cold. Instead of the spring-like snow with temps in the 30s and 40s, slush really, we’re getting winter-like snow and temps in the teens.
This is in contrast to the last two years that were unusually warm early. I was able to start gardening at the beginning of April instead of the more usual end of April. The rule around here is not to plant containers until the Sunday after Mother’s Day, it will certainly be true this year.
Unfortunately, all that snow still hasn’t eased the drought enough to cancel the watering restrictions. Part of me is hoping that it will continue to snow in the mountains (our water supply) through May and into June, the other part of me is mighty sick of it and wants it dry and warm.

Oddly enough, I disagree. It seems that a day doesn’t go by without TWC trumpeting yet another “named” winter storm. At the same time, they continue to harp on global warming. Haven’t they realized how their own cynical marketing has made them hypocrites? Oh, sorry! I forgot. The cold is CAUSED by global warming… (mantra…mantra…)

Last winter I had to end swimming season in the first days of December and got back in as soon as the following February. This winter I had to stop in late October and April 3 near Savannah, GA was the earliest. Before big mama gator takes the plunge!
Yep, it’s definitely colder, or more like last winter was abnormally warm. Spring is late in the high country of the Ozarks, the bluebirds nests have eggs and a few hummingbirds are juicing up. Green up is slow.

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